Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree
by Eeqooeeoos
Summary: He is his best friend. He is always there when he needs him; be he is happy, sad, angry, healthy, or even dying. As a friend, he will never turn his back on him. Even the slightest doubt is unforgivable. Then a strange dream occurs to him, in which he's involved. Together they share stories, laughs, and the meaning of life. Sata-centric.


**First of all, I want to thank Rianna Lauren for discussing this story thoroughly with me. And yes people, this story is inspired by a song with the same title by James Vincent McMorrow. Btw, school just started today, and it seems that this year is going to be extremely busy. Despite of not updating, I'm an active visitor of this archive although I prefer to be a silent reader.  
**

** I know I'm supposed to update my other multi-chaptered stories but it seems that 2k+ words is my limit so I cut this fanfic into two. Otherwise, this will be a very long one-shot.  
**

**I did some adjustments with the relationship between Sata and Taiyou so that the plot can fit. Also, I'm not sure about who are the SEEDs of Arakumo Jr. High, it wasn't mentioned in the wikia, so I don't know if either of them are SEEDs or not. :/  
**

**And I just wanna tell you that the way Sata refers to Taiyou using the words 'you' and 'he' is written on purpose. It is going to be revealed in the next chapter.  
**

**_EDIT: Rewritten on (12/09/2012)  
_**

**Disclaimer: If Ina11 is mine, Alpha would be speaking French-scratch that, he's speaking Mexican-instead of English.  
**

**Enjoy reading!**

* * *

**Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree**

* * *

_"Hi there, I've been waiting to see you!"_

That... is what I long to hear from you. I long for the things you do when you're around. I long for those days we, as a whole team, used to spend together. Everything's not the same without you, my friend.

After our match against Raimon (you know it's embarrassing to talk about your own defeat), I thought we could just ignore the fact that we lost and continue getting stronger together. But it seemed that destiny has chosen a special path for you.

You fell into a coma three months sharp after the decisive match; from what the doctor said, it is time that your illness finally reached its critical state. You have not woken up since this morning.

And that brought me to where I am now. I barely finished my practice, and I'm practically running from school to the hospital without paying any attention to my state; all dirty and soggy. Everything involving you is always a big deal for me. For you are Arakumo Jr. Soccer team's precious captain and my beloved friend.

I keep on running, running, and running. Even as I arrive at the hospital, I do not slow down one bit. Although I am fully aware of the rule of not making any noise, I just can't stay calm after hearing what happened to you.

Oh look. There are three security guards running after me, ha! I guess someone has finally reported this annoying muddy brat right here. I can't wait to see how this—

"Hey, you! No running in the corridors!"

Gulp.

I'm doomed.

* * *

I enter your room and thither to your bed. I have so much to tell you, but I should make a proper greeting, shouldn't I? So, here goes.

"Good afternoon, Taiyou," I mumbled as I take a seat next to your bed. I take your hand and hold it with mine. Holy Mother Earth, you're sweating again.

"Do you know that the sun is shining brightly today? Quite an irony, isn't it? Because the 'sun' in front of me is not awake, this 'sun' is not shining, this 'sun' is sleeping... Ha-ha. If you were awake, you'd probably be showering me with protests."

Still there comes no reply from you, nevertheless, I continue talking.

"You must have heard all those noise coming from the corridor. It was me running, with all my might to visit you. However, being an insufferable brat I am, I happened to annoy some people here so someone sent the security guards. Luckily Fuyuka-san saved me from those old men so I can get here and talk to you.

"Ha. How can I still call this a talk? I am all alone here, even though you are right before my eyes." I clench my fists as I see you sleeping. You're so pale as if you have never seen the world; never been under the sun. Yet, you seem very peaceful that it leaves me puzzled and somehow... I wonder why my heart is burning at the sight.

"How do you manage to stay calm?" While I'm sitting here, holding your cold hand and listening to those painfully slow heartbeats of yours for every damned second. "Can't you see I'm witnessing hell here?" I struggle to maintain my volume as my emotion starts to overflow. Rush of anger fills my heart, I grit my teeth as the idea of cruel reality hits me.

You can't. You cannot ever see. Whatever is happening to me, whatever things I am suffering from, whatever feelings I have as an emotional impact, they will never reach you.

"Pity. Reality forces you to suffer a never-ending misery for once more, and apparently it forces me into this one-sided conversation. As you see, I am the lonely speaker here-because you'll never reply me, not until you're awake."

I raise my hand to brush your hair, feeling slightly grateful when I feel breath coming from you. It lights up my hopes. My hopes are for you to have the chance to survive, so you can return to home safely and play soccer together again with us. Please stay strong, Taiyou. I beg you.

Damn this. Damn that. Damn the world. Hell, I shouldn't be this sentimental! I am not... mushy, I am the remarkable goalkeeper of Arakumo Jr. High, and I must stay strong like how I always protect the goal post.

"Sata Tosamaru."

I open my eyes which I didn't realize have been shut and then raise my head to see if someone really just called me.

"Who's there?" I call out. Only to hear that voice again, this time it's coming from my back. I turn my back to the source, and there stands the Holy Emperor, Ishido Shuuji, looking majestic as ever, despite the fact that he's holding a bouquet full of sunflowers in his hands.

I hastily stand up and bend over. "Pardon my rudeness, sir! I did not see you come!"

"It's okay," says he, raising a hand and motions me to sit. He walks to the opposite side of the bed and places the bouquet on the nightstand before he turns to the bed to see Taiyou. I stare in awe as his dark hand caresses Taiyou's orange bangs gently. Never in my entire life have I seen this side of the Holy Emperor; he is always so cold and prestigious. Almost stoic but here he is, gazing lovingly at the sleeping Taiyou, I just never thought he could be such a compassionate person, like a father.

"Do you visit him often?" asks he, still not diverting his eyes away from Taiyou.

I open my mouth to answer, "N-no, sir. This is my first visit after three weeks." I didn't expect my voice to come out huskily. He just hums in response, and then moment he goes silent again, still gazing at Taiyou as if it will wake him up. I can see his eyes flashing glints of hopes, and I know he wishes for him to wake up just as much as I do.

"I have been treating Amemiya like he's my son," says he, cutting out my thoughts. I used to think that if he treats Taiyou in such ways, there was a possibility that he has or once had a child. But, instead of asking him such personal question, I shrug the thought away. I have a better question for him to answer.

"Excuse me, sir." He finally turns his attention to me. "Have you ever planned to make Taiyou as a SEED?" I continue as he walks towards me while I just freeze on the spot. His black eyes pierce into mine. I doubt this conversation will end up in violence but still the Holy Emperor is unpredictable.

"No, I don't intend to make him as a SEED."

"B-but his soccer talent is phenomenal! You cou-"

"I know," he cuts, raising a hand at me. "Becoming a SEED is a choice... But not for him. As much as I want him to become one—for the benefit of Fifth Sector—I can't allow it. Whenever I look at him, he always reminds me of someone from the past. Someone who used to live from soccer and yet it was taken away from him due to his illness. Seeing his determination turned to gloom, I couldn't help but to pity him. After all, life is kind of wretched if you see everything that he'd been working for disappeared into dust just because of one trivial obstacle. I believe he wished he could do better by being independent towards it, but then he must remind himself that it's a wall he can neither destroy nor break through."

My eyelids lower down as a feeling of fatigue spreads throughout my body. However, I insist on listening to his words closely, comprehending every word, while hoping that he won't be bothered by my behaviour.

"No matter what I do, I cannot help Amemiya with his current state. Besides, making him as a SEED will only result in more torture for him."

I agree with you, sir. Taiyou should not suffer no more.

* * *

Where am I?

Oh, here I am again. Lying on a small grassy hill in the middle of a vast viridian prairie in heaven-knows-where. I have visited this place several times lately and to be honest, I don't know how I could get here in the first place. No matter where I was before, I always get to here as if I can come whenever I want to. I know it's strange, it's like this place exists as if my sub-conscious self projected the need for somewhere as a dimension to think and calm myself down, but I never submit to any proof that affirms this being a dream because I can feel my existence; I rubbed my arm with my fingers, I could sense my rough, sweaty, sun-burned skin, I wrapped it with my thick long fingers and there I could feel the bones inside that give me the shape of a human. So from that moment on, I knew this place is real because I truly exist here.

"So am I."

A reply comes from someone whom I presume is sitting right next to me, as the breeze comes from his direction I see it carries red oak leaves with it, suddenly the breeze dies and one leaf falls right on my nose, its stiff and sharp minute edges tickle my nose bridge. Soon I realize that the tree wasn't there a moment ago; I was damn burned by the sun, but now an enormous red oak tree is hovering over me with its branches spread to all directions, protecting me from the sunlight.

"Curious, isn't it?"

The person speaks again, as if he wants to remind me of his presence. I slowly turn to look at him just to I find myself startling when I see Taiyou sitting next to me.

* * *

Ishido closes his eyes as silence grows within the room, he has been watching over Sata who has fallen asleep next to Amemiya. Recalling their conversation half an hour ago, he examines very closely every gesture and response the boy gave him until he reaches a conclusion that the boy sincerely shares the same feeling he has and believes that the boy cares for Amemiya as much as he does. He swears by it so strongly that he can almost imagine the boy feeling the same excruciating pain when he looks at the slowing heartbeats of Amemiya's in the monitor.

Now that it comes across his mind, Ishido heeds the increasing time gap between each heartbeat. Making every second feels like living hell whenever he waits for another beat, yet he never heard the high pitch come up.

"Argh!"

Just when he is about to fall asleep, he is stopped by the sound of someone moaning in pain who is none other than Amemiya.

* * *

"Hi there, I've been waiting to see you!"

A certain feeling of pain starts to develop in my stomach, as if my insides are tied into a tight knot. It was the last thing I expected to be coming from him. I have been hanging on the end of the rope, pushed back to the wall, and left with no hope. I have been **_desperate_**, all day long. I have been wishing to rendezvous with him and now he is here sitting next to me, dressed in his complete patient clothes minus the syringe. He looks like the exact copy of the person I wish to meet the most, but just how can he be present in this place while its background is still alien to him... and even to me? I am usually alone here, or maybe I am _the only one_ here. If anything, it's amazing what tricks the mind can play on you.

"So, how's life?" Taiyou asks, looking straight at me, beaming his notorious 'Morning Glory' smile. I swear I just spotted red tinge on his cheeks, oh how I wish to see him this healthy. I saw him glancing occasionally at me, probably checking if I am listening. I put on a mischievous smile and reply,

"Sucks as ever, man."

He snorts, I follow him afterwards and then both of us burst into laughter. We bump our fists together and shout BRO FIST while clutching at each other's shoulder for support, literally laughing our guts out.

"_Gwarsh_, I miss this!" I say as I wipe a tear away, trying to arrange my breath back to uniform as well as regaining some self consciousness.

Then his laughter dies down and silence is once again among us.

"So," after a moment I begin to speak, choosing a topic to talk about. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Taiyou stares blankly at me. He just bows, fiddling with his hospital blanket which presence I just took notice of. I am expecting an answer from him, as soon as I realize I'm not getting one I glance at his face for once more, but I catch nothing. Instead of answering me, he pulls his blanket—so that it expands to its original width—and hands its other end to me leaving my question unanswered.

"How's school, Sata?"

"Ah, good question!" I sing-song as Taiyou gets me, a memory of an interesting event just struck me and it's just about time he knew. "The practice has been quite a torture lately, 'cause we're practicing on a new hissatsu, but you know Hinano, he always comes up with unearthly ideas for hissatsus especially for the defensive ones."

Throwing his head back, Taiyou lets out a roaring laughter; the back of his head accidentally hits the tree, causing him to yelp. Impulsively, he raises a hand in anticipation, however, it doesn't stop him from being hysterical; the corners of his mouth stretch to form an annoying grin (as they call it) that we used to share when we still fancied pulling pranks on Fuyuka-san.

"Dear _Saturn_," says he, gasping between his breath. "What do you **expect** from a _Venus_?" he punches my arm playfully, while I'm busy restraining myself from laughing too hard at his pun. "Some eccentric killer offensive techniques? With meteors? That'd be called **_'Armageddon'_**."

Oh dear, if Hinano was here the insult would have hit home.

"FYI, he DID name it _that_," Taiyou just shakes his head in disbelief, still snickering. "I swear! But, you know what? The technique is not offensive at all, it's more of a defensive. And since we've too much defensive hissatsus, some of us began to disagree with him. He got into an argument with Nebuchi and Mazumi a few times. Dude, you've got to see their faces, fabulously hilarious!"

I reconstruct the scene by mimicking every action in the scene recorded in my brain. As I cite every dialogue I imitate Nebuchi's epic face palm and Mazumi's notorious eye twitch successfully, causing him to laugh so hard that he nearly rolls down the small hill. Thankfully, I manage to stop him on time by pulling his awfully thick beige blanket which is wrapped perfectly around his thighs and tell him to give me a standing ovation for successfully reconstructing one moderate-length 'act' without being a part of the theatre club as an expression of gratitude. He just snorts in fake disgust and shakes his head. I know I am boasting at him, but hey, he doesn't dislike it. It tickles him and I appreciate that.

I wasn't serious about the standing ovation, but he pats me on the back anyways. Although, I believe he's thinking about how goofy I looked when I was doing it; I know that mocking look very well, that stupid grin has yet to leave his face, stretched wide almost as wide as that of the Cheshire cat's.

"Hey, are you taking it or not?" he inquires. I raise an eyebrow at him, giving him a confused look but he doesn't seem to be pleased by this. I look down to check on something that has been poking my arm.

"Seriously, my hand starts to feel stiff."

Ah, so he's been offering to share his blanket with me.

"N-No, thank you," I wave my hands together and push his hand down gently to the grass. My heart nearly stops as I learn the fact that his hand is cold as ice despite his brightly flushed face.

"I have lost count since the last time I played soccer. I mean, I miss playing it so much but I just can't do it," Taiyou mumbled, smiling sadly at me. He looks down at his lap and sighs exasperatedly as if giving up.

"Why yes you can play," I mutter loudly in spite of doubting its possibility to happen, "but where can we find a soccer ball here? All I see is nothing but the grasses... and this red oak tree." I point upwards to where the tree is and notice that the actual colour of the leaves is bright brick-red, almost like glowing. Weird.

"How about asking for one?" suggests Taiyou.

* * *

Slowly but surely, Taiyou's screams of pain begin to fill the room. The infamous Holy Emperor of Fifth Sector is now cornered in a situation where he must call for help without sounding vulnerable; he must keep his dignity. Without hesitation he punches certain digits on his phone and hastily puts it on line.

"Fuyuka, I need you to come here, _now_."

He inhales deeply after pulling away from the call, mumbles inaudible things before approaching Sata.

"Wake up, Sata," he whispers while shaking the boy's shoulder lightly, but the boy doesn't respond. Ishido frowns; he wonders if the boy is a heavy sleeper—referring to his tight routine, but he fears that he's running out of time and forcing can be inappropriate. However, he must do so if he wants to get Sata away from the bed immediately so that Taiyou can receive emergency treatment as soon as possible.

'A bit of extra pressure shouldn't be a problem,' he thought.

"Sata Tosamaru, you need to wake up _now_," says he sternly, this time he shakes the boy a bit rough, but the boy still does not respond, leave alone showing any signs of feeling bothered. Ishido moves closer to him so that he can get hold of the boy's shoulders and be able to move him to the couch across the bed where he previously sat. He tries to pull Sata up and succeeds. The boy's head lolled, revealing his sleeping face. Ishido is taken aback by the sight,

His skin colour is extremely pale, nearly grey, as if there's no blood coursing through his veins. For some unknown reasons, the veins inside his body seem to have dilated that faint purplish-blue trails start to appear all over his body. Even on his round, innocent face, those horrific purple trails are outstretched, towards the centre that is his eyes. Ishido hastily takes a hold of the boy's hand, apparently the boy has encountered the Basilisk somewhere in his dream and become cold as Taiyou who, if fails to be rescued on time, will succumb to his fate; death.

"I apologise for keeping you waiting, Go—"

"Never mind me, Fuyuka. Just take care of Amemiya now," Ishido orders, not looking at her in the eyes. He concentrates on Sata, with his thumb on the boy's wrist he counts the heartbeat of his for a minute and then flees. The boy's hand falls limply to his side, indicating that he has yet to wake up from his slumber.

Fuyuka, who has just finished ushering a group of doctors into the room, approaches Ishido who is now sitting next to Sata with his eyes tightly shut.

"Is he okay?" asks Fuyuka, barely whispering. She only receives a hoarse 'I don't think so' from him, her expression turns curious; she leans towards the boy and places her hand on his left chest. A relieved sigh escapes her tiny mouth.

"Everything's fine. His heart is functioning normally, he's just sleeping." says she smiling at him, but the Holy Emperor's expression doesn't change. He just remains bitter. Even as he opens his eyes, his furrowed eyebrows do not relax a bit.

"No, he's not breathing."

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**-END-**

* * *

**Cliffhanger. Or trolling as my lovely beta, DrenchedInApples, said. I shall read more Percy Jackson I guess. **

**P.S: Happy Birthday, Dan Radcliffe! lol I mean cover will be up soon.  
**


End file.
